Betting News Archives

January 8, 2024

Corinthians signs record R$370m deal with VaideBet

Corinthians has announced a R$370m (£59.8m/€69.4m/$75.9m) deal with VaideBet, the biggest ever sponsorship in Brazilian football history.

One of the biggest clubs in Brazil, as well as South America, Corinthians will have VaideBet as its front-of-shirt sponsor for the next three years. The partnership is VaideBet’s first move into the football market.

The agreement comes in the wake of the approval of Bill 3,626/2023, with sports betting soon to be legal in the country.

Corinthians president Augusto Melo said: “We are very happy to bring Corinthians the biggest sponsorship in the history of Brazilian football. We have always stressed that Corinthians has the biggest brand in South American football and one of the biggest in world.”

Andre Murilo, chief financial officer of VaideBet, added: “Sponsoring Corinthians is sponsoring not only one of the main institutions in Brazil, but also a club with a very beautiful history and a fan base that is admittedly passionate, engaged and uniqu..

January 8, 2024

Kambi CEO Kristian Nylén announces resignation

CEO and co-founder of Kambi, Kristian Nylén, has notified the board of his intention to step down from his current position during the year, upon the appointment of a successor.

Nylén co-founded Kambi with Anders Strom in 2010. He has since built the company into one of the industry’s leading sportsbook suppliers.

It is understood that Nylén’s decision to resign is driven by his desire to spend more time with his family.

Commenting, Nylén said: “The decision to stand down from my position at Kambi after so many enjoyable years has been difficult, but one predominantly driven by my desire to spend more time with my young and growing family.”

Nylén plans to stand down from his current position during the year, upon the appointment of a successor.

The market has so far not reacted too heavily to the news. At the time of writing, Kambi’s share price was down 1.83%, to SEK160.50 (€14.79/ £12.29/ $15.69).

Timing of Nylén’s resignation

Nylén’s announcement follows a period of sustai..

January 8, 2024

DraftKings and BetMGM secure market access in North Carolina

DraftKings and BetMGM have struck market access agreements in North Carolina ahead of the Tarheel State launching its legal sports betting market.

Both arrangements cover sports wagering in North Carolina. DraftKings will partner with stock-car racing series Nascar and BetMGM the Charlotte Motor Speedway in the state.

Under DraftKings’ deal with Nascar, the operator becomes the series’ exclusive daily fantasy sports partner in the US and Canada. DraftKings will also be an authorised gaming operator of NASCAR and secure additional sponsorship benefits across Nascar.

Subject to regulatory and licence approvals, North Carolina will become the 27th US state in which DraftKings is active. This comes after it also secured approval in Vermont last month.

“DraftKings and Nascar have collaborated closely with each other over the years, sharing a like-minded commitment to enhancing the fan experience,” DraftKings’ North America president, Matt Kalish, said. “We look forward to the next chapt..

January 8, 2024

Iowa reveals year-on-year sports betting growth in December

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) reported a year-on-year increase in sports betting handle and revenue during December.

Player spending in December amounted to $282.7m (£222.5m/€258.3m). This was 23.0% up from $229.9m in Iowa in December 2022 but 2.4% behind $289.7m in November 2023.

Of this total, $258.3m was spent betting on sports online, with a further $24.4m wagered at retail sportsbooks across Iowa.

Turning to revenue, this amounted to $26.3m in December, which was up 28.9% from $20.4m in the previous year and also 86.5% ahead of November’s $14.1m haul.

Online betting accounted for $23.6m of all revenue and retail wagering $2.7m.

Iowa players won a total of $256.5m from sports betting in December. The state was able to collect $1.8m in tax from wagering.

Diamond Jo Dubuque and FanDuel ahead of the pack in Iowa

Looking at individual operators, Diamond Jo Dubuque and partner FanDuel remain out in front in Iowa. Revenue from the partnership in December amounted to..

January 5, 2024

Betfred extends sponsorship of Derby Festival

Bookmaker Betfred has agreed to extend its title sponsorship of major UK horseracing event the Epsom Derby by an additional year.

Betfred sponsored the Derby Festival for the first time in 2023 in an initial three-year deal. This has now been extended by a further year, covering each event until at least 2026.

As part of the new deal, the bookmaker will now hold naming rights on each day of the two-day event

Betfred will also expand its backing of races during the festival. The bookmaker will support a total of six races at each edition of the event, with the existing deal only covering two races.

Betfred boss hails “memorable” first year

“Following on from a memorable two days at Epsom last year we are delighted to further develop our support of the Betfred Derby Festival,” Betfred boss Fred Done said. “We very much look forward to working with the team to keep the fixture at the forefront of world racing.”

Amy Starkey, managing director for the east region at Jockey Club Raceco..

January 5, 2024

BetMGM to become new sponsor of Premier League Darts

BetMGM will become the new sponsor of Premier League Darts for 2024 after an agreement was announced on Thursday.

BetMGM and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) reached a deal for the operator to replace Cazoo as the new title sponsor of darts’ “biggest roadshow event”.

With a total of £1m (€1.2m/$1.3m) in prize money available, eight players will face off across 17 nights primarily in venues across the United Kingdom and Ireland. Rotterdam, Berlin and Dublin will also host events before the play-offs in London in May.

The partnership between the PDC and BetMGM comes in the wake of the 2024 World Darts Championship. Wednesday’s final became the most-watched non-football event in Sky Sports’ history with 3.75m viewers.

PDC chief executive Matt Porter said: “The Premier League will reach a huge live audience and a massive global television audience across four months, and we’re delighted to welcome BetMGM as our new title sponsor.”

Sam Behar, UK director of BetMGM, added: “We a..

January 5, 2024

Portugal sets €215.3m online gambling revenue record in Q3

Online gambling revenue in Portugal hit a new quarterly high of €215.3m (£185.6m/$235.4m) in Q3, helped by record figures from the igaming segment.

Total market revenue in the three months to 30 September 2023 surpassed the existing record of €122.0m, which was set in Q2, by 4.6%. The Q3 figure was also 36.1% higher than €158.2m in Portugal in the same period in 2022.

PORTUGAL’S PREVIOUS RECORD WAS €122.0m SET IN Q2 2023

Some €133.4m of revenue in Q3 came from online games of chance, up 50.5% year-on-year. This was a new segment record and also represented 62.0% of all online gambling revenue in the quarter.

Consumers spent €3.65bn on this form of gambling in Q3, up 47.2% and another new record for Portugal. Slots accounted for 82.3% of this total spend, with French roulette at 6.4% and blackjack 6.2%.

Portugal online sports betting revenue continues to decline

The overall increase in online revenue in Portugal comes despite an ongoing decline within the sports betting market.

January 5, 2024

New York smashes online sports betting revenue record in December

New York set a new online sports betting revenue record of $188.3m (£148.7m/€172.3m) in December, while the state’s handle fell just short of November’s all-time high.

December revenue surpassed the existing New York record of $166.3m, set in October 2023, by 13.2%. The figure was also 24.8% higher than $150.9m in November and 32.8% up from $141.8m in December 2022.

NEW YORK’S PREVIOUS RECORD WAS $166.3M IN OCTOBER 2023

As for handle, this amounted to $2.04bn in December, just 3.2% shy of November’s record of $2.11bn. The total was also 25.7% higher than the $1.62bn bet in December of the previous year.

December also marked the third consecutive month that New York players spent more than $2.00bn on online sports wagering. New York in October became the first state to report an online monthly betting handle higher than $2.00bn.

FanDuel stretches lead over DraftKings in New York

Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel remains the frontrunner in New York, extending its lead over Draft..

January 4, 2024

GambleAware CEO “welcomes” statutory UK industry levy

GambleAware’s chief executive Zoe Osmond “welcomes” the establishment of a statutory industry levy, believing it will help to fund gambling harms research.

Proposed as one of a host of measures in the Gambling Act white paper, the new levy would be set as a 1% fee on gross gambling yield for online gambling operators. Traditional betting shops and casinos will pay a proposed fee of around 0.4%.

The government says the levy would raise an estimated £100m (€115.5m/$121.7m) per year.

The operators would pay the levy to the Gambling Commission. The hope is this will ensure all licensed operators in the UK pay their fair share. The current voluntary levy system allows operators to pay a chosen sum.

With the consultation on the statutory levy ending in mid-December, Osmond has hailed its introduction, saying: “GambleAware welcomes the introduction of a statutory industry levy to fund gambling harms research, prevention and treatment (RPT).

“This is something we have long called for and..